The Best Articles in Privacy
The most useful articles and videos in Privacy from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Privacy Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved in Privacy by Refind users in 2023 so far.
- How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps
- American Phone-Tracking Firm Demo’d Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA and NSA
- On the trail of the Dark Avenger: the most dangerous virus writer in the world
- How to Check Your Devices for Stalkerware
- A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
Inside Cisco’s ‘Smart Office,’ Where 5,000 Data Points Are Constantly Collected
Cisco’s redesigned New York office is both a showcase of the company’s technology and an example of how it sees the workplace evolving. WSJ takes a tour to l...
Facial Recognition Tech: What Happens to Your Biometric Data?
Facial-recognition tech is being used more often. Supporters say it is a safe and convenient way to confirm identity. But skeptics say it possesses security ...
How to ...?
How to Check Your Devices for Stalkerware
You deserve privacy. Here's how to check your phone, laptop, and online accounts to make sure no one's looking over your shoulder.
How to make your offline self harder to find online
Keep your personal information personal
«Our goal in this article is to help you condense your attack surface as much as possible.»
How to delete what Facebook knows about your life outside of Facebook
The "Off-Facebook Activity" tool lets you see — and somewhat control — what other sites and apps tell Facebook about you
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds in Privacy on Refind.
On the trail of the Dark Avenger: the most dangerous virus writer in the world
The long read: Bulgaria in the 1980s became known as the ‘virus factory’, where hundreds of malicious computer programs were unleashed to wreak havoc. But who was writing them, and why?
Who Wants to Be Tracked?
“We value your privacy…”, the clichéd beginning of many a privacy notice. I value my own online privacy, and whenever I read that phrase as part of a website consent banner it sounds like lip service…
NC bill would allow police to track phones without warrant
Supporters say it would help find kidnapping victims or runaway children. Critics fear that it would further extend the government's ability to secretly surveil people.
Why Discord is at the heart of a major US intelligence leak
The classified military documents originated on Discord before spreading elsewhere on social media
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Privacy—all under 10 minutes.
ChatGPT banned in Italy over privacy concerns
The country's data-protection regulator has serious privacy concerns over the technology.
Cops Used Creepy Clearview AI a Million Times, CEO Says
Clearview AI's CEO said police have used his tools over a million times and claimed his company's database of scraped social media images now tops 30 billion.
The EARN IT Bill Is Back, Seeking To Scan Our Messages and Photos
In a free society, people should not have their private correspondence constantly examined. U.S. lawmakers, we would hope, understand that individuals have the right to a private conversation without…
The privacy loophole in your doorbell
Police were investigating his neighbor. A judge gave officers access to all his security-camera footage, including inside his home.
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Privacy.
How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps
A Muslim prayer app with over 98 million downloads is one of the apps connected to a wide-ranging supply chain that sends ordinary people's personal data to brokers, contractors, and the military.
American Phone-Tracking Firm Demo’d Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA and NSA
Anomaly Six, a secretive government contractor, claims to monitor the movements of billions of phones around the world and unmask spies with the press of a button.
«track the movements of billions of people via their phones with a constant stream of data purchased directly from Twitter.»
Inside Google's Plan to Kill the Cookie
To replace the cookie in Chrome and Android, Google has an offering for the world called “Privacy Sandbox." Here's an exclusive peek into how it will work.
Why Signal won’t compromise on encryption, with president Meredith Whittaker
Signal recently killed SMS support as part of that mission.
Tax filing websites have been sending users’ financial information to Facebook
The Markup found that tax preparation services including TaxAct, TaxSlayer, and H&R Block have sent users’ personal financial information to Facebook through the Meta Pixel.
«The Markup, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates how powerful institutions are using technology to change our society. Sign up for its newsletters here.»
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Privacy, including:
zeynep tufekci
Complex systems, wicked problems. Society, technology, science and more. @Columbia professor. @NYTimes columnist. My newsletter @insight http://www.theinsight.org

Patrick Gray
Host of the Risky Business® podcast. Guests by invitation only. Bsky: http://riskybusiness.bsky.social
Gabriel Weinberg
Founder & CEO of DuckDuckGo. Co-author of the books Super Thinking & Traction. Tweets auto-delete via TweetDelete. DMs open.
Mozilla
We work to ensure the internet remains a public resource that is open and accessible to all. The nonprofit behind @Firefox. #BlackLivesMatter
briankrebs
Independent investigative journalist. Author of 'Spam Nation,' a NYT bestseller. Former Washington Post reporter. Mastodon: http://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in Privacy, including:
MIT Technology Review
Our in-depth reporting on innovation reveals and explains what’s really happening now to help you know what’s coming next. http://technologyreview.com/newsletters
EFF
We're the Electronic Frontier Foundation. We defend your civil liberties in a digital world.
The Intercept
Fearless, adversarial journalism. Join our newsletter to get our best investigative reporting delivered to you: http://interc.pt/newsletter
WIRED UK
The future as it happens. Subscribe today: http://wired.co.uk/subs/MWR19762
The Markup
Challenging technology to serve the public good. Send tips: http://mrkup.org/tips. Subscribe: http://mrkup.org/klaxon. Support: http://mrkup.org/donate. Mastodon: http://mrkup.org/masto
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We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Which sources does Refind monitor in Privacy?
We monitor hundreds of sources in Privacy, including MIT Technology Review, EFF, The Intercept, WIRED UK, The Markup, and many more.
Who are the thought leaders in Privacy?
We follow dozens of thought leaders in Privacy, including zeynep tufekci, Patrick Gray, Gabriel Weinberg, Mozilla, briankrebs.
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